2008 Lewis Cup Finals

The 2008 Lewis Cup Finals began on June 2 at the Metbank Center. The whole Island was “cup crazy” as the Concordes were appearing in their first final since 1990. Meanwhile, the Chicago Shamrocks had appeared in the final in 2003, but had not won since 1994. Game one started slow as the teams appeared to be feeling each other out. A goal from Scott Drayton gave Long Island a 1-0 lead in the second period, which held until late in the third, when Ryan Shelton took a penalty, leading to a powerplay goal for Martin Vannier. With just 1:50 left, Ilya Rusakivich scored what would be the winner as the Concordes took a 1-0 series lead. When game two went to overtime where the Shamrocks were desperate to avoid going into a 2-0 hole. Just 22 seconds into the extra frame, Jonathan Wheatley beat Luke Morrison to tie the series heading to Chicago. “That’s a huge win” said Wheatley. “It’s important for us to go home with the split.”

Game three was all Chicago early on, as Wheatley and Jay Lydon each scored in the first period, then Dan McBride and Lamar Jackson in the second. Down 4-0, the Concordes weren’t discouraged, scoring just seconds into the third. But Kari Nurminen stood tall, only allowing one more in a 4-2 win. The Concordes made a change for game four, going with 21-year-old Josh Gurmett in net with Morrison struggling. Gurmett responded with a shutout as Shelton, Tory Partridge, and Randy McAllen each scored in a 3-0 win to tie the series. “We have a battle on our hands now I’ll tell ya!” proclaimed CBC play-by-play man Graham Helm.

Game five certainly was a battle. Wheatley and McAllen each scored in regulation as the game went into overtime. Gurmett and Nurminen each made save after save as one overtime became two. In the second OT, Scott Drayton’s point shot hit the post, then Nurminen swatted a Ryan Shelton shot away from a wide open net. At the other end, Gurmett seemed unbeatable as the game went into a sixth period. The third overtime would last just over seven minutes, when Lamar Jackson, the 39-year-old playing in his final season, ripped a shot from the top of the circle to beat Gurmett and give the Shamrocks a chance to win the Lewis Cup at home. Long Island opened the scoring on game six on a goal from Chris Dempsey, but it was all Chicago after that. Wheatley scored twice, putting an exclamation point on his playoff MVP honours, and the Shamrocks went on to win the game 4-1 to claim their first Lewis Cup in 14 years. In an interesting piece of trivia, the Shamrocks were the first team in the 16-team playoff era to lose game one of each series and win the cup. Captain Corey Clark received the cup from Greg Nolan and immediately passed it to Martin Vannier, the 20-year veteran who had never won the cup. With his health failing, Fred Garfield Jr joined the team on the ice for a celebration reminiscent of the 1983 celebration. “These kids really played their hearts out” said Garfield. “My father would be very proud.”